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I grinned. "Where are you parked?"
"In the tower on Clark," he said.
I nodded. "Walk with me this way, and we'll go out through the back."
I held his hand as we navigated the crowd again. I was confident and certain of my steps, and Beau easily kept pace behind me. We had almost made it to the hallway where we would eventually exit when we ran into Jasper again.
"Hey, what's up? Are you leaving?" he asked, looking me over.
"Yeah, I'm grabbing my purse, and we're going out through the back."
Jasper looked down at our hands, which were still interlocked.
"This is my boyfriend," I said. "Beau."
"I didn't know you had a boyfriend," Jasper said.
The two of them shook hands. "When did you meet Holland?" he asked Beau.
"Back in March," Beau said, telling the truth.
"Yeah, I'm surprised you haven’t met," I said to Jasper, seeming vaguely confused and in a hurry. I smiled and waved at him. "It was great seeing you!"
"Come by and see us again before you leave," he said.
Beau and I went to the back room and then through an exit-only door that led to the alley.
"I would never come this way alone, but we're good since it's just a few steps and you're with me."
I pulled Beau through the dark alley, jogging and not stopping until we reached the street where there was more light. The parking tower was on the block to our left and I pointed at it.
"I'm on the street over here," I said. "I found a metered spot when I pulled up."
"I'll walk you over there."
"It's a couple of blocks."
"That's fine. I'd rather walk by myself back to my car than for you to go that way by yourself."
"I'm down here by myself all the time, so I'm used to it, but thank you."
"Oh, okay," he cut in, thinking I was turning him down.
"No, I was sayingthank youas in, I will take you up on it. If you want to walk with me I'd love it. I would feel more comfortable with you. I can give you a ride back to the tower once we get my car, if you want."
Chapter 6
"Why did you name him Ralphie?" Beau asked as we walked.
"I got it from the Christmas story. I watch that movie every year, and it was Christmas time when I got him. I thought it was a cute name."
"How old is he?"
"Three now. I got him when he was one. He was a little wild back then, but he wasn't neutered so it helped when we did that. Plus, I train him and spend a lot of time with him."
"And he's the poster child for your company."
"You saw that?"
